In recent years, a multi-function printer to which many functions are added based on a digital copying machine is in practical use. More specifically, apparatuses such as a copy, facsimile, printer, scanner, and the like are integrated as one apparatus. In addition, a function of saving scanned image data in a hard disk or the like is added to that apparatus.
An operation panel used to operate these multiple functions becomes larger in size in recent years. Such operation panel can not only make operation settings of functions utilizing the scanner and printer, but also display for monitoring the operations and status of remote devices on the network and display Web contents (Web pages) using a browser function on its operation screen.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-237968 discloses a method which allows the network user to call a print selection mode to quickly identify Web pages so as to print them by a single and continuous batch processing, and can enqueue the identified Web pages, and a computer system that implements this method. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-237968 particularly relates to a print selection method which displays a plurality of choices and allows the user to select desired text for required print processing from them using a full-text target parameter or each individual parameter. In one example, the user can select any desired one from a list of available Hyperlinks on a target page for a subsequent print selection. The system prints according to print parameters selected by the user. For this purpose, the user quickly designates a list of selected pages and those at destinations of the Hyperlinks up to the designated level. The system saves the designation, and can start asynchronous print processing for all the selected pages at the same time.
However, according to the prior arts including Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-237968, in order to print Web contents over a plurality of pages, the user must type in a desired URL, download Web contents information represented by HTML from a server at the destination of the URL, and display the Web contents on the screen. Then, the user determines whether or not they are to be printed and presses a print button, thus completing print processing. Therefore, the operation for displaying another page and pressing the print button must be repeated.
There are various display types of Web contents. For example, some Web contents are formed of a very long page in a format represented by HTML, or some other Web contents include a link such as “next page” to reduce the load of scrolling by the user, so that the next page is displayed by the user's clicking. In case of a long document, if the user wants to print upon browsing it, he or she need only press the “print” button once. By contrast, in a case where the Web contents consist of a plurality of pages, the user must alternately repeat page browsing and a print instruction, thus imposing a heavy operation load on the user.